In one of the previous blogs, we looked at the view that the four horsemen of Revelation 6 can be interpreted as demonic influences that have brought about great changes worldwide in the past centuries. All of this should lead to Satan establishing his kingdom here on earth.
It also had, and continues to have, major implications for the Christian church.
The first attack on the Bible - reason
The last time we have seen that the rider on the white horse has come to conquer and that this took place in the 19th century - the time of the late enlightenment. Then Christian values were swept away as the foundation of society and replaced by all kinds of human thinking and philosophies. People began to rely on reason - reason, logical thinking - and believed that this way they could solve all problems and move society forward. The days of stupidity and superstition were over, people thought.
That thinking, of course, has permeated the "Christian church" as well.
Beginning in the 18th century, historical-critical Bible research developed, which led to the development of modern theology. Only that which does not contradict reason has meaning for a modern theologian. Previously, faith was based on revelation; on that which God revealed to us in the Bible. But in the 19th century, reason is given supreme authority and the Bible is subjected to it. Thus the Bible was stripped of its divine authority, and in fact that process is still going on.
Where the demons of the white rider changed social thinking by taking away the biblical foundations, in the same period in the Christian church they stripped the Bible of its divine authority. With that, many no longer saw it as the authoritative Word of God, and that left deep marks everywhere.
The second attack on the Bible - the "feeling‘
Once that happened we entered the 20th century when the believed that "the Spirit" should be given more space. This began with Pentecostalism and then, with the charismatic tidal wave, it entered all denominations. We have already heard about it here on this site more said about it. These teachings have torn many communities apart. One might say that there too "peace has been taken away. By the way, still and again charismatic teachings and practices cause great division and discontent among Christians.
By the way, with the Second Vatican Council (in 1962-1965), the Roman Church modernized the church, which, by the way, also meant the attack on Protestant communities. As a result, contemplation spread further there as well. So that we now encounter this almost everywhere.
Because of these charismatic and contemplative holdovers, feelings and "teachings of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1) have more authority than the Word of God in Protestantism today.
In a picture, we could represent it as follows.
The latest attacks on the Bible
If we are now - anno 2023 - living in the age of the pale rider, then we should expect to see the last attacks on the Bible. That seems to be true, because recently I saw a couple of posts announcing that it was time to rewrite the Bible.
- In China, the Three-Self churches have been commissioned to bring the Bible into line with the teachings of the Chinese Communist Party. In doing so, they have not shied away, for example, from mutilating the Bible text in such a way that the Lord Jesus says of Himself that He is a sinner. "Jesus once said to the angry mob that wanted to stone a woman who had sinned, "Whoever of you is without sin, let him cast the first stone at her." When his words came to their ears, they went no further. When everyone was gone, Jesus stoned the woman himself, saying, "I too am a sinner" (John 8).. See a post here in Dutch and here in English.
- In England, there appeared a message that the British Public Prosecution believes parts of the Bible no longer fit into modern society (here the post in English). Fortunately, the accused evangelist has not been convicted (yet); but the prosecutor's opinion was clear. By the way, these kinds of charges and even persecutions against Christians are happening more and more lately in so-called Christian countries.
- World Economic Forum advisor Yuval Harari, said in an interview a few months ago1 that it was time to let AI rewrite the Bible for once2. He believes "dat the Bible is full of disinformation. According to him, a nonhuman entity should write a new holy book, because then religions can finally get it right. Everything can then transform into one new truthful religion (...)“.
This message was quickly classified as untrue by several so-called fact-checkers. The MailOnline beats the interview differently, but essentially it comes down to the same thing. The Bible and people who believe in the Bible are a stand in the way of world progress. Here you will find an article (in Dutch) that says more about that.
That the Bible and belief in the God of the Bible will no longer be tolerated at all around the opening of the fifth seal may be seen in Revelation 6, where the following is written:
"9 And when the Lamb had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony they had. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, Till what time, holy and true Ruler, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? 11 And to each of them was given a long white robe. And it was said to them that they should rest yet a short time, until also the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who as well as they were to be killed, should become complete." (Revelation 6:9-11)
Do we see it? People are being slaughtered - it really says so! - because they did not bow to the antichrist, the beast. They have bowed to the authority of the Word of God and testified to it.
Such people will soon all be put to death under the fifth seal! It is a great multitude that no one can count (read here more on this topic), who is coming out of the great tribulation and to whom it is promised that the Lamb will wipe away all tears from their eyes (Revelation 7:9-17).
The apostle John was exiled to Patmos for the same reason: "for the sake of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Revelation 1:9).
May it encourage us to hold fast to the authority of God's Word even in our time and bear witness to it. This will not be thanked by the world and will become increasingly difficult. But let us stand firm in this for God's glory and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!
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